Thursday, May 20, 2010

1 Corinthians 13 Love

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails..." 1 Corinthians 13:1-8
God has been all over me about 1 Corinthians 13 love for about two months. I always know He wants to teach me something when the same theme keeps coming up in several (6 or 7) sources that I am reading or listening to independently yet within the same time frame. I love it that this is one of the ways God likes to get my attention. Of course, this prompts me to start paying a bit more attention. However, it doesn't necessarily make me "get it" any quicker (hence the 2 months). What I have learned is that there is no earthly, physical way that I can live out this kind of love without the example of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit living in me. It brings to mind Galations 2:20, which I have adopted as my life verse.
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." I don't want to live; I want Christ to live in me. I don't want to try harder; I want to let Christ do everything through me. But, I still haven't quite figured out exactly how to do that. I have some nasty old flesh patterns and am self-seeking a lot of the time, whether I realize it or not. Yet at the same time, I know and completely trust that my God is faithful and if I cry out to Him in prayer and ask for the strength and guidance, He will provide.

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